Lessons In Wartime

April 7, 2003|By Karla D. Shores Education Writer

The little girl speaks matter-of-factly about why the war with Iraq won't end soon.

"Because they have a lot of people to kill, and it will take a long time," said Alaa ElTahir, 10, peeking up through her hijab during a math assignment. She attends the Darul Uloom Institute in Pembroke Pines. "All they're doing is killing people."

It's one young student's simplistic view of the war, but it's also a critical time for educators who say they're trying hard not to tell students what to think and are steering clear of making moral judgments to them about the war.

It's especially difficult for teachers at religious schools.

Their students -- wearing yarmulkes, crosses, hijabs -- are developing strong opinions with or without adults.

In South Florida, a Jewish principal says she will not tolerate anti-U.S. sentiments in her classrooms; a Christian humanities teacher encourages students to pray for those in the war; an Islamic teacher said his students find solace not in discussing war during class, but in praying five times a day.

The constant din of the war is silenced at Darul Uloom Islamic Institute, where young Muslim students focus on their lessons and wudu, or cleansing, before their five daily prayers. The storefront school with a sprawling, tan-and-dark-green-carpeted prayer room is a haven for children who are aware of what is going on in the war but do not talk about it.

The post-Sept. 11 fear is fresh for Darul Uloom's students. Someone threw a rock through the window in the 40-student school. Teachers received anti-Muslim phone calls, and a strange man was seen videotaping students entering the school.

Teacher Yusuf Saw said he answers students' questions, but he and other teachers don't encourage war talk.

"Our duty is just to help the students cope with violence they see on TV," Saw said. "Being Muslim hasn't been quite easy for them, because after 9/11, they felt it. Their playmates in the neighborhood turned against them by calling them terrorists."

Saw said Islamic teachers should spend time helping students understand "you are Muslim, but you're also American, and you have the same rights as everyone else. It's like in the home when Mom and Dad are arguing, but it has nothing to do with you."

Nadiyah Mohamed, 9, finishes lunch at a table with giggling girls. With a serious face, Nadiyah, whose family came here from Guyana, said she feels safe in the school housed inside the masjid, or mosque.

"My parents are scared to bring me here, but I'm not scared here, because this is like Allah's house."

Nadiyah said she has learned that prayer protects. On weekends, her best friends -- one Jewish, one Hindu -- come to her house to play. When it gets dark, they almost always get scared thinking about war, Nadiyah said. Often they'll scurry into Nadiyah's treehouse to pray.

"I pray that my family is safe and that they could stop the war right away," Nadiyah said. "We do an Islamic prayer, a Hindu prayer and a Jewish prayer."

Soldiers' sacrifice

Students at David Posnack Hebrew Day School in Sunrise begin mornings by opening their Siddur Sim Shalom prayer books and bowing their heads, asking for peace.

Anat Nagar, teacher of Judaic studies, said she incorporates prayers for peace in lessons because it eases students' fears.

After reading from the prayer book, many students, of whom some are Israeli, others are grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, crafted handwritten prayers for U.S. troops that adorn the school's walls.

"I feel scared because a lot of people are against the Jews, and I'm a Jew," 12-year-old Abraham Mercado said.

U.S. soldiers want the world to be safer, Abraham said. "I want them to come back safely because they're sacrificing their bodies for us, and that's not fair."

Lake Worth Christian School teacher Gary Welton listens to his students trade stinging comments in a lively discussion at the Boynton Beach school.

Students reveal frustration over the "unfair" advantage they say Iraqi soldiers hold over U.S. soldiers.

"We as Christians have to set an example and do the right thing, and they can do whatever they want," said Stephanie Matson, 17. "If it were the other way around, they wouldn't hesitate to blow up our civilians."

Paul Riccardi, 17, chimes in.

"[Iraqi forces] aren't playing by the rules," he says. "They have people dressed as civilians, and then they attack us."

Other students ask questions.

"Are they going to get other countries to attack us because they disagree with what we're doing?" asks one.

"When are we getting our POWs back? Do you think they'll kill them?"

Welton finally speaks.

"Let's assume Saddam loses and you guys are on the losing side," Welton says, pointing to three students. "You have enemies who have relatives who have been tortured and mutilated."

Then Welton looks at the rest of the class. "When these guys lose, what do you want to do to them?" Welton asks.

"Torture them!" some of the students reply.

Welton concludes, "These people are caught in an extremely desperate situation."